The Maine thing is that you explain to him he's safe.

What if ebola became airborne?

Then it wouldn't be Ebola..

Do you know how this stuff works #18?

Actually, Ebola could mutate into an airborne virus.

It's unlikely, but it could.

#18

Are you... Are you OP's son?

While Ebola couldn't be considered truly airborne it can travel on the aerosols created by coughing or sneezing.

Actually, there was a strain of Ebola that became airborne back in the 70s, but it only infected monkeys.

The Maine thing you all should do is sit down and have Ebola cereal for breakfast to start the day off right...

it does not seem to be safe... cases are growing worldwide and people in hazmat suits get infected... honestly he is right to be scared.

#119 Interesting factoid *smokes pipe*

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That was a poor attempt at a pun

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#25 56 people seem to disagree

I remember back in 1999 I was so scared of the Y2K bug that I made my mom buy supplies so we could survive. I was only 8 though.

Apparently my dad's company spent 35 grand on 5 satellite phones just in case lol

The Y2K scare was huge. Your mom wasn't the only one stocking up.

Ebola has been blown totally out of proportion, yes, its a hazard in Africa with over three thousand deaths but it won't end up being the next zombie apocalypse as is always portrayed with movies, we have unrealistic views of the world and the news goes a long way in brainwashing us.

Actually the U.S. just documented the first case of Ebola (the man sadly died) He took a plane from West Africa and came into contact with several people. Ebola is dangerous, not apocalyptic, but it kills. If/when more American people get infected with Ebola the higher the risk Canada and other countries that seem to be Ebola free, will be infected. I hope the airports will smarten up and do a more extensive test on the people coming from places with Ebola outbreaks, but right now they're too busy checking for fevers. As for the brainwashing, believe what you want to believe, but no one is brainwashing you.

27 - You're misinformed.

I heard about the Ebola sickness being pandemic in central Africa years ago.

"we have unrealistic views of the world and news goes a long way brainwashing us"
So you say that the news is overreacting and says things that are not true ?
If so, you don't believe that Ebola has killed over 4000 people worldwide and that Ebola is surely going to spread further around the world. We'll meet again in 3 months.
BTW, movies give us unrealistic views of this world, not the news...

#35 Is isn't the information in the news that is typically misinforming. It is the way it is presented. Every disease that has the potential to kill a single person is treated like the disease that is going to bring us to the end times. Think abut Swine flu, for example. Think about the respiratory illness spreading throughout the USA currently. Both of these were/are inflated beyond what they by sheer amount of people talking about it and how people talk about it. Some news stations even talk about the possibility that it will mutate to become airborne, while others wonder about protective gear health care workers use. This type of speculation is informative to a degree, but also moves towards causing panic in the public. News viewings go up with these sorts of things the more scary they are.

The guy who died want american, he was a libyan national who lured to get into this country. No americans have died of ebola yet

Excuse me, liberian, not lybian

Alan, it has actually been around since the 70s. if you look at the CDC website, it shows all reported outbreaks.

#55 i heard some peolle got out of the hospital with ebola and its also in Toronto, Canada too

The news does overreact with these things but when a person has such a dangerous virus it is best to explain the dangers and symptoms to prevent a major out break. People who watch the news panic and make things worse. We have such highly advanced medical safty gear that it is unlikely thst a virus will escape from the containment area. If the person had not went to the hospital or there was several 100 cases it would be more reasonable to be concerned. This was one case calm down.

Also, I'd be weary of anything you hear about it spreading and make sure the sources are good because there has been people saying we have it in New Zealand and Australia but that's all bull. One guy has the flu and they're all freaking out. There's not a single case over here but still I've got so many people packing tantrums about possibly getting it.

@67; I live in Toronto, it was a false alarm and the person tested negative for Ebola

55- zero percent chance? A Dallas nurse was just confirmed to have ebola.

I should be the one crying its here in Westchester county ,NY
( so they say)

That is unconfirmed and has been deemed highly unlikely.

Your son might be on to something here. Anyone who has seen Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes knows what could happen. Just saying.

Please try not to base real life off of fictional movies.

hey look, a smart person!... not u #6

Pretty sure it was a joke.

What's silly and quite ironic is that #7's comment is along the same basis as this one, yet #6 is getting backlash for it. Seriously, compare the two.

Let's also not forget about the movie Outbreak. Will fiction become real life, I hope not.

You know who else is from Maine? Stephen King-- that wrote the book "The Stand". Your son's fears might be validated!

He also wrote salems lot but we don't have a vampire outbreak

Your son may or may not be an idiot

Nah he ain't. He's super smart, and actually her brother. I'm a friend of hers.

Eh, there's always a pandemic that sweeps the human population every 80 years or so. Just that time again, though medical advances may develop a cure before it turns into a catastrophic illness worldwide.

Its just a matter of time before its here

If it ever truly comes here, the odds of it becoming as bad as it is in Africa are very low. The problem in Africa is that there is a mistrust of medical personnel, causing many people to not seek treatment or quarantine, further spreading the disease. Most people around here trust hospitals and will (most likely) take the appropriate actions.

15, or at least that's what we hope. I know many people who would become ill and just shrug it off, not wanting to go to the hospital and be charged an exorbitant amount of money for something they believe will clear up on its own. They'd continue going about their lives until it became obvious that whatever they contracted was Ebola.

If Nigeria and Senegal were able to stop the disease from spreading, I think we should be fine.